Fairy Frontier: Romancing Saga
by YorokobeShounen
Summary: A change of fate. A change in the future. A world with a different beginning and a different end. This...is a Saga of adventure, of hardships, of a journey to the truth, and most of all, this is a Saga of Love. (An AU where August is adopted by Fairy Tail.)
1. Prologue

_**Author's Notes: Just a heads up, there is no OC tag, since the protagonist of this story is, obviously, well, August…with a different fate, as the summary says. Not really filled with sugars and rainbows, but with a different end. That's all.**_

* * *

 _ **Fairy Frontier:**_

 _ **Romancing Saga**_

 _Prologue:_

" _ **Minuet**_ _"_

* * *

The sounds of raindrop hitting the ground and the wind shaking the trees echoed in the hidden underground room of Fairy Tail's HQ. Along with it, was the shocked voice and mutterings of the Guild's 3rd Master, who can do nothing at the moment but have a slacked jaw at the sight that greeted him when he entered the hidden room after being finally appointed as the new Guild Master of Fairy Tail.

In the middle of the room stood a tall pillar of a magically powered crystal, known as Lacrima. Frozen in time within that crystal, is a young woman with long, wavy blond hair, and with her is an infant, seemingly floating in front of the young woman, frozen in time inside the pillar of lacrima as well. At the latter, Makarov's eyes nearly jumped out their sockets.

" _Who…who would do such things to an innocent infant?!_ " Makarov thought in horror as he eyed what can possibly be mother and child.

"You should know what this is, Makarov, as I had revealed the story of this thing to you three days before the Guild Master Ceremony. This…is Fairy Heart. This is our guild's greatest weapon, our ace in the hole should the moment to need it will come. From this day onward, included in your duty as Guild Master of Fairy Tail, is to perform the monthly checking of the Fairy Heart's condition from time to time, and see if there are any changes. But most of all, you must protect it with all your life, and never let it fall to the hands of Fairy Tail's enemies. Do you understand that?" The voice of an old man echoed from the other, darker end of the room. Makarov quickly switched his line of sight towards the direction of the voice, his expression now back to normal, albeit his eyes still dripped with slight disgust.

For while he was informed that it was, indeed, Fairy Tail's first Guild Master that is sealed inside that pillar of lacrima, as his predecessor, the second Guild Master of Fairy Tail, Precht Gaebolg, had explained three nights before, none of those explanations involved an infant sealed within what would be Fairy Tail's greatest weapon.

"Master Precht…what…what is the meaning of this? Is that infant in the lacrima supposed to be a part of Fairy Tail's trump card as well?" Makarov asked, barely able to mask the disgust in his voice. He could only hope that his suspicions are wrong. To use an innocent child like a weapon…Makarov swore that to be one of the very few things he'll never do in his lifetime. Having had children himself only strengthened his resolve on the matter of not weaponizing children to begin with.

"Oh, that little one. Do not raise that eyebrow, boy, as that infant is not a weapon. He is…nothing more than a child born under the wrong circumstances and time. Let's just say, the stars practically didn't go his way at the moment of his…birth. Basically, disastrous luck personified. Do not worry, however, as he shall be released automatically from that pillar of lacrima, but only after a set of time has passed, from what I have learned. Which, in turn, involves the second part of your duty, boy." Precht, still hiding in the shadows, continues to speak, his tone starting to resemble a professor giving a lecture, "That infant, as you can feel the powerful magic energy from it, is no ordinary child. While he indeed has very tempting potential to develop, that in turn also serves as a great threat to both the guild and Magnolia's people. Which is why, the moment he is " _born"_ , I want you to use an Eight-Lock Grand Magic Seal on him. That way, he'll-" Before Precht could finish however, Makarov quickly cuts in.

"Wait, a Grand Seal? On him? Won't that cripple his very ability to use even the weakest magic, Second Master?! Doing that would mean he'll live the rest of his life as a normal human who can barely use any magic, due to having a paltry source of magic to draw from within his body, with his future as a mage repressed! And besides…seeing who that person behind him is, doesn't that mean-"

"Yes, your hypothesis is correct and wrong, boy. That infant in the lacrima…is indeed the First Master's child. And, as for the Eight-Lock Grand Seal's effects, it will lock down an entire 80% of his magic reserves, as well as block access to his unique magic ability. That, however, won't mean he can't learn to use or specialize other magic types and spells like any other mage can, as long as it does not involve his own original, unique magic." Precht cuts-off Makarov this time around. The latter had another expression of shock, before looking back at the pillar of lacrima. Wait, the First Master had a kid?! With who?! How is it even possible inside that pillar if lacrima?! Makarov's mind felt like it really needed to twist of its hinges. However, before any of those could happen, Precht's voice brought back the 3rd Guild Master back to reality.

"Do not concern yourself about the identity of the other half that made that infant. Focus more on what method will you use when the time comes for you to apply the Grand Seals, and of course…you will need to take care of that kid as well. Or just place it in a basket and chuck it down the river, just like the other hundreds of orphans." Precht's voice remained monotone, making Makarov scratch his head out of wanting to figure out if the 2nd Guild Master was actually joking or not. Hopefully joking, Makarov thought.

"Is there really no other option than applying the Grand Magic Seals, Guild Master? And did you just say I'm about to raise another kid?!" Makarov asked. A small laugh can be heard from the darkness where Precht was, clearly amused.

"No, there is no other options. And yes, if someone in Fairy Tail is going to raise him…Only the current Guild Master can. And as such, I leave this matter to you from now on, boy. I shall wait for you upstairs with the others, for I cannot afford to miss your celebratory party before I'll head out on my journey." Precht declares as his voice eventually faded. Meanwhile, Makarov was still slack jawed at the fact that his predecessor basically left him with a child support debt.

"Oh well…It's not like I don't want him around here to begin with." Makarov muttered as he looked back at the pillar of lacrima containing the First Guild Master, Mavis Vermillion, and her still Nameless child. Ah, that's it, Makarov thought. Before the eventual release of the child as Precht had predicted, Makarov thought he should at least do his own part in the preparations.

A name. That's all he can give the boy for now, as the mother certainly isn't in a state to do that, nor will she do so anytime soon. Now…what should he use as an inspiration? Makarov thought deeply, wanting the give the technically unborn boy a name that would make Mavis Vermillion proud…and not break out from the lacrima pillar and choke-slam Makarov to death when she first hears her son's name. Moreover, Makarov must make sure he can make up a last name that isn't " _Vermillion_ ", for the sake of the boy's safety when he finally leaves the pillar of lacrima.

Makarov walked around the room, still thinking rather hard, despite the darkness and lack of proper lighting covering the whole room. In a few seconds, Makarov felt something bumped unto his left foot. Looking down, he sees that he bumped onto a thick book, entitled _The Mahabharata,_ along with many other books about different mythologies scattered onto the floor. Now that he thought about it, Precht has been spending his break times reading these books…and making Makarov read them too, right after.

" _Ah, Mahabharata, one of the longest stories I've known since childhood. A story of heroes, wars, and adventures. Wait, I think I got it!_ " Makarov popped a small smile as he looked at the infant encased in crystal, "I shall name you after the _Mahabharata's_ Hero of _Generosity!_ When you decide to finally come out to this world, I shall name you… _Karna!_ And as for your last name…I believe I'll just take it from the month you will be born in. Hmm…I'll just have to revise it a bit so that it won't at least sound like it was literally ripped off the calendar! Hah!" Makarov declared with a jolly voice as he approaches the boy encased in crystal, whom he now named as Karna. A proud smile is brightly showing itself on Makarov's face as he took a look at the child.

"Karna…Fairy Tail awaits for you. When you'll finally come out and greet the world…we shall welcome you with open arms, as the new member of our family. I'll wait till then, so don't rush it, alright? Later, boy. Got a party to jump in!" Makarov happily declares, before leaving out of the hidden underground room to attend to the party upstairs…

The pillar of lacrima stood quietly as Makarov's footsteps eventually faded…

* * *

The year is now X767. It is currently the first day of the month of August. The Fairy Tail Guild building is currently quiet, with the early morning winds making a light, barely audible sound. Makarov could only sigh in satisfaction as he takes in the cold morning air and the current peace. Descending onto the stairs leading to the hidden underground room of the Guild Building, Makarov could only hope that there's at least even a small change to occur on his monthly checks of the pillar of lacrima.

While he does know that it might take a while, the sight of an infant encased in crystal like it was a preserved corpse still unnerves Makarov, no matter how much time had passed since his first monthly check. In a few seconds, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail finally reaches the door of the hidden room.

Makarov sighs, before opening the door. However, the moment the winds from outside slid into the smallest crack of the opened doorway, Makarov felt a powerful, large surge of magic pass through him like a thick gust of wind. His heart beat increasing in its pace, Makarov swiftly goes inside the room and closes the door. When he finally turns his attention to the pillar of lacrima in the middle of the room, Makarov's eyes nearly jumped off their sockets.

The infant in the crystal was gone. Only the First Master was left encased. A ball of light is currently floating in the air right in front of the lacrima pillar. Trusting his instincts, Makarov slowly approaches the ball of light…only for it to suddenly land on the ground, and fading away into thin air.

In its place is left a wailing infant.

The child's cry quickly shakes off Makarov from the surprise. In response, the Guild Master quickly removes his coat, and uses it as a substitute cloth for the infant. Makarov could only make a big, happy smile at the child as it kept crying, showing that it has quite the powerful pair of lungs, and has no possible defects.

"Welcome to the world…and welcome to Fairy Tail, Karna! Quite the feisty one, isn't he, First Master?" Makarov says to the encased Mavis, out of admiration, "I shall take care of him from now on, First Master. He shall live a good life here, with his family in Fairy Tail! That much I can assure you, First Master. Please, continue to watch over him." Makarov says once again to the encased Mavis, this time wearing a serious expression. Giving a silent nod to the encased First Guild Master, Makarov turns his attention to the door of the hidden room.

Makarov's mind quickly bolted back up in alarm, as he remembered that he must take the child to a nearby clinic and have it checked up properly by an actual doctor. The Guild Master of Fairy Tail moves as fast as he can without hurting the child as much as possible, determined to reach the clinic before anything might happen to the infant he's carrying in his arms, like a disease striking in, or worse.

The Guild Master eventually reaches the main floor of the Guild Building, which was still empty, much to Makarov's delight. No one can delay him with questions of heavy suspicions this way. Wasting no more time looking around, Makarov once again charges forward outside to the streets, and runs to the district where the clinic is located.

As he ran, Fairy Tail's Guild Master could only hope he can make it in time…

* * *

 _15 years later, in the year X782, 15_ _th_ _day of December…_

" _Projection Magia_ : _Nine Lives! Earthes Magia: Earthen Pillar!_ "

A scream and the sound of an explosion being fired echoed throughout the entirety of the Medusiana Marshes, deep in the heart of Caelum Island. An explosion of light occurred, before dissipating into thin air, leaving a human Mage carrying a gigantic, crimson bladed great-sword with his right hand. The ground beneath him is then pushed upward, becoming a tall pillar nearly 50 feet tall, giving the mage a good view of the entire marsh from above.

The mage has soft, blond hair that's spiky at the tips. A large cowlick hair is present on top of his hair as well. The boy's eyes are a bright green, and his skin is a reflection of ivory. His upper clothing has been completely devastated from his enemy's attacks, leaving him with nothing but his gauntlets, his black pants, and his high cut combat boots. Sparks of golden light danced around him and the weapon he's carrying.

"Magic Limiter, Off." The young mage whispers, then hearing the sound of a door being unlocked in his head, after which the sparks of light around him increased in intensity as he gains a large surge of magical power, now draining his store of extra magic completely and giving him but one shot for one final attack.

This fight had lasted for an entire week. The damn thing just won't stop moving and get killed. Not to mention that, it went from having one head to eventually, nine of them. Damn his F-Ranked luck, the young mage thought. Well, that's the nigh-legendary hydras for you. Even the legendary Heracles of Pergrande didn't win within a few minutes either.

Well, to his credit, that legendary demi-god hero slew an ancient hydra in one day, killing it by striking and cutting down all hundred heads at once. With sheer skill and brass balls.

A feat the mage believes would be extremely difficult for the S-Ranked members of his Guild. Screw that, they'd have a hard time soloing this thing he's facing, too. The young mage grumbled about how he has to face a hydra while the other mages before him had different, easier tests. Hell, even the other one who's also taking the S-Class exams on another island has it easier!

"Someone up there really hates me. Why a hydra, not a wyrm or something?! How come that Mystogan guy gets to obliterate an entire orc island and saving their pretty captive chicks for _HIS_ S-Class test while I face this unfair bullshit?! Why is my luck so full of crap?! Is this why I haven't encountered a blonde-haired busty elf girl to ask for dates?!" The mage complained to himself. This fight clearly shows a meager 1% chance of victory out of 100%...

And as one who aspires to be an S-Class Mage, he must grasp that 1%... _and make it a reality._

In response, a monstrous roar outright explodes from an entire kilometer away from the mage. Ah, that means the freak of nature had sensed his magical energy. Good, makes it easy to hunt down this way. Unlike last time, the young mage had readied all possible options. Two of them, in fact.

 _Seize victory and live, or just die._

Fast, earth shaking steps echoed from the depths of the ground, becoming louder each time, signifying the monster's imminent arrival. For the mage, now would be the best time to review his plan.

 _Strike down all nine heads at once with an Anti-Dragon Property Weapon, and victory is in reach._

While it does sound easy, execution requires a ton of luck and only 10 seconds given to execute at the critical moment the hydra arrives and attacks. Even with the magically created weak imitation of _Nine Lives,_ the unnamed weapon used by Heracles of Pergrande to cut down another hydra thousands of years ago, the large magic used to project it will come to waste should the hydra not do an attack that the young mage had calculated and predicted. Even with the skills and experience he gains from the imitated sword, it won't be enough to compensate should his plan fail.

In the end, it's all about lady luck pushing her bosom on the young mage, or lady luck deciding to smash the young mage's family jewels with a steel mace before grinding that organ with a heel.

In a few seconds, the gigantic nine headed monstrosity, rising from one part of the forest as an 100 feet tall behemoth, is in sight.

 _Ten seconds left before it attacks._

The hydra, on all fours, bolts towards the young mage's direction, roaring all the way with all of its nine heads, its roar savagely shaking the whole marsh. The young mage remained calm and unshakable.

 _Five seconds left._

The young mage locks his eyes on the approaching monster. All nine heads have completely locked onto him as well.

 _Three seconds left._

Locking on all nine heads. All of which had set themselves in a posture of attacking simultaneously, as dictated by all nine heads rising stiff all at once as it ran. Things are looking good.

 _Two seconds left._

"Set… _Nine Lives: Nine-Fold Deaths!_ "

Empowered by his release of magic energy from earlier, the young mage roars out the name of his newly-learned _Sword Arte_ and leaps with the speed and force of a meteorite. This technique, derived and revised from the same one the hero Heracles used, is nothing more than a pale imitation. But, a weak imitation it might be, it still has the basic properties of the original, being a powerful set of nine sword swings that _are executed and landed at the same time on nine different directions, with each blow causing a single death_. Against enemies with _multiple_ lives or self-resurrections that do not exceed the number of nine times, this is an instant kill technique, as the Sword Arte will kill the target multiple times based on the number of hits landed.

Which means that getting struck by all nine strikes will kill the target _nine times over_ , whether by the young mage's imitation or by Heracles' original skill, which was deadlier as it consisted of a hundred strikes than just nine _._ By the mage's own words, however, " _There is no rule in this world that says a fake cannot surpass the original!_ "

He does not need a hundred strikes. _Nine is enough. For that is all that he is capable of._

With this in mind, the young mage goes on to grasp the 1% chance of victory.

All of hydra's nine heads strike all at once at the golden shooting star right in front of it. The moment the nine heads closed in on the mage, he swung his sword.

In a split second, all of the hydra's heads were severed, as if 8 additional invisible blades had cut down all the others, causing nine different fountains of poisonous blood to sprout like geysers, before the decapitated body falls down forward. The force of the attack allowed the young mage to bulldoze straight towards the back of the decapitated hydra, where he then proceeds to quickly stab the monster's back and used his weapon as a brake and an anchor.

A few seconds of silence ensued. The young mage's fast beating heart had calmed down. He then takes a look at the severed heads, and notices that they are not regenerating like in the previous six days.

A big smile is painted on his face as he realizes his victory. Within a few moments, the young mage started laughing like a madman suddenly cured of his madness and is half-way celebrating it. His laugh continued for half a minute, before he ran out of breath.

The moment he takes a resting breath, all the reinforcements done by his consumed magic energy left his body, causing him to weaken and feel his consciousness slipping, much to his ire. His imitated sword breaks down into pieces as well, and disperses into thin air…causing him to slip off from the hydra's back, and slide all the way to the edges and falling down from the body. Even with his fading consciousness, the young mage could see that he won't have a fatal landing…

…thanks to the figure of the Fairy Tail Guild Master waiting for him from below. The old mage had used his magic, known as _Giant,_ to increase his size nearly twenty times over, with his hands that are now twice as big poised to catch the falling younger mage. Within a few seconds, the young mage is now in Makarov's gigantic hands.

"You've done well, boy! Now, time to rest up and-Oh…" Makarov cut himself off as he notices that the mage in his hands is now unconscious. Looks like an entire week straight of fighting that nine-headed monstrosity was worth it for the young one, Makarov thought as he decreases in body size, and slinging the young mage over his shoulder.

The young mage has passed his exams, and as Guild Master, Makarov must make sure the candidate makes it alive to the ceremony and the party after it. The Guild Master then smiles at the thought of getting more alcohol at the aforementioned party, and heads for Fairy Tail's camp near Medusiana Swamps…

* * *

In front of Makarov is a messenger, carrying a bag full of letters.

The Guild Master appears to finish writing a letter that confirmed S-Class Candidate Number Two, Karna Augustus, had passed his test, before giving it to the messenger. The latter then bows respectfully before bolting off Makarov's tent, to deliver the letter to Fairy Tail's main HQ. Makarov made a proud sigh, to think one of his children had managed to get this far, even with the Eight-Lock Grand Magic Seals debilitating him heavily…

A few minutes passed…right before a series of steps took Makarov's attention from sorting out the documents on his table.

A young woman stood at the entrance of the tent. She has long, mid-back length brown hair, a pair of large brown eyes, and a tan skin. She wears a light blue bikini top with a camouflage pattern, a pair of capri pants, with two bands hanging from each leg, and a light belt covered in heart motifs loosely tied around the waist On her feet is worn a pair of high heeled sandals. A pair of metal bracelets is adorning her biceps, and she also has three simple bracelets on her right wrist. She currently has a look of genuine concern on her face.

Makarov quickly recognized the guild member as Cana Alberona, the same girl who asked to adopt Karna in order to become his " _official_ " older sister nine years ago. Makarov, at the time, seeing how attached Karna was to Cana after meeting her when she joined Fairy Tail, and how doting Cana was to the boy when she discovered that Karna literally did not know his parents, gave an okay to the " _adoption_ ", as Makarov thought that an older sister's presence might help the boy emotionally as he grew up. Since then, the two kids had lived together as close as actual blood-related brother and sister.

"Third Master, I'm sorry for intruding. But,I…I saw you carrying _him_ to the medic's tent a little earlier. I…went there and checked up on him. He's…really cold and pale, has really thick eyebugs, he's nearly completely drained of magic, and has a lot of poison flowing within him, too! Does that mean he-"

"Yes. Believe it or not, he passed!" Makarov cuts off Cana, his voice now jolly and happy like his usual self around the guild, "Also, I made sure to bring a medic specializing in poisons. Don't worry about your little brother, Cana. He's in good hands. As of today, Karna Augustus is now officially an S-Ranked Mage!"

Cana made a sigh of relief. She was about to ask if her adopted little brother failed the test, seeing his…half-way dying state. No, it felt a little wrong to call his current state living. But the assurance of safety and survival still managed to calm down Cana's heart. Not to mention her joy that her cocky brat of a little brother actually pulled it off and became an S-Class Mage. Looks like all that bragging from him from last week really did have some truth to it.

But, that also means she has lost the bet with her adoptive brother, and which means she's really gonna need to buy ingredients for that _Sizzling Blue Marlin_ he asked for as his prize out of the bet.

"Looks like you'll have to spend your drinking expenses this week for that blue marlin, eh? Those fishes are expensive!" Makarov comments with an amused smile, to which Cana responds with her own relieved one.

"Two weeks' worth of expensive drinks, Third Master. I know. But, all in all, I'm simply glad he's okay, passed or not. Speaking of drinks…he's already at the legal drinking age, isn't he?" Cana says with an expectant look, causing Makarov to start paling a little. No, not for Cana's brother, but for the expenses on _his_ side.

"Oh no. As Guild Master, I'm begging you, do try not to turn him into a clone of yours. I'm starting to fear for the stock of beer at the guild!" Makarov retorts in feigned fear, causing Cana to chuckle in a way that actually makes Makarov's hair stand on end this time around.

"Ohohoho. We've been siblings for 9 years already, so I don't know IF it's even possible to not turn him into a mini-me! I CAN try, but, just _TRY_ , Third Master. Fufufu." Cana comments back, causing Makarov to start praying to any gods he knows and wishes for the safety of Fairy Tail's finances…

* * *

Karna opened his eyes.

A sharp, stinging pain corroded his entire body, that even something as simple as breathing like he had hundreds of needles inside his chest. Damn hydras and their poisoned breath and blood, he thought. If it wasn't for his continuous application of magical reinforcement and strengthening of his lungs and constant manual magical control of his blood vessels, he would have died from just breathing within a 5 km radius from the multi-headed monstrosity.

Gotta love the healing of the medics though, Karna thought as he felt the intensity of the poison was a lot weaker and getting thinner by the minute, compared to the seven days of endless struggling and paranoia, where the poison remained thick in the air and threatened to kill him the moment he loses manual control of his blood vessels. The young mage really wished he could give a long, tight hug to those cute, busty nurses and give a friendly handshake to that old doctor, but, even with the poison's hold weakened and still decreasing, the pain around his body was a little too much to bear at the moment. Even the touch of the supposedly soft bed sheets were feeling like a thousand electrified needles.

"Well, geez, how am I supposed to-ARGH, my effing throat!" Karna complained in pain of his throat. Each syllable of his words felt like a hot stake driven through his larynx. So, not even talking is allowed too?! Damn hydra. Why couldn't his exams be a bit easier, Karna mentally asked.

" _0/10 not gonna try again. Nor am I gonna help out in any of the future S-Class Exams. Screw that crap._ _It's going to be a frigging pain in the ass._ _Literally._ "

Karna couldn't even sigh from the pain. If anything, the only option would be to try and sleep the pain off. He couldn't do anything at the moment, anyway.

Admittedly, though, it _is_ really boring.

"That voice…you're awake, Karna?" Cana's voice echoed from outside the tent, causing Karna's eyes to lit up. It got better when his big sister did enter the medic's tent, carrying a bottle that contained water in one hand...and surprisingly, a tray of food in the other, much to Karna's surprise.

"I'm not hallucinating, am I?" Karna sounded genuinely concerned, "Big Sis and alcohol separated? What malarkey is this?!"

Cana, however, appears genuinely unamused, "Of course not! When my idiot of a little brother jumps into a fight with a Phantasmal Beast, didn't use his best ability in it, and tried winning with just his Projection Magia and Elemental Magias, _and_ comes out of it literally dying, why wouldn't I worry this much?! Do you know how it felt watching you struggle and hurt yourself, _and_ not ask for help in seven days straight, despite the fight obviously screaming that you should just run away?!" Cana says with a reprimanding tone, her eyes locking unto Karna's surprised own. For the latter, while indeed expecting this lecture, did not expect it to happen so soon. True, in the length of the entire seven days of struggling, he continuously sensed and saw from afar how Cana would plead to Makarov to stop the fight ever since she saw the hydra on the second day of the fight.

Her pleadings got…intense when she discovered from the medics and other guild members about the hydra's air poisoning attribute. The moments when she saw the hydra's head increase in number made things worse. Her discovering that Karna was basically fighting alone one of the Legendary Phantasmal Beast species certainly did not help. At all.

But, even after he saw all that, Karna insisted on finishing his exam alone to Makarov. He had come this far. He only had one chance. For the young mage, he must grab this opportunity and prove himself to the Guild.

Right now, apologizing and explaining things could at least simmer the heat…a bit.

"…I'm sorry for worrying you, Sis." Karna says in an apologetic tone, "I know how scared you were these last seven days. I'm really sorry about that. But…you also know that I can't back down from this one chance. All that training, jobs, skills, magic, and knowledge I've learned to this point…I wanted to prove how I've grown. I want to prove that…I can protect you, and everyone else, too." Karna says, before closing his eyes. At times like this, his sister would still scold him. Which is justified, concerning his own reckless and arrogant acceptance of the entry to the S-Class Exams when Makarov did the declarations an entire month ago.

"I know." Cana replied.

That shocked Karna. He didn't see that coming. The gentle, understanding look on his sister's face did not help. Her suddenly hugging him gently only made the fluffy, embarrassing feelings in his chest intensify. The pain of the poison lessened by a lot, too.

"I simply wanted to tell you how worried I was, and for you to at least apologize. True, I got a little too angry when you accepted Makarov's words and jumped into this suicidal exam, but…in the end, you were alright. You were okay. You're alive. That…is much more worth than the exam itself, whether you passed or not. So, stop worrying about it, alright? I'm really happy you're still in one piece and breathing, you big idiot." Cana says in a comforting, gentle tone, before letting go of Karna. However, even with her intentions fulfilled, she was still curious about one thing…

"Say, little bro, why didn't you activate _Vasavi Shakti_ during the fight? Wouldn't that make things a little easier? You needed to cut down all nine heads simultaneously, after all." Cana asked. Karna looked at her in the eye, and took a short breath.

"Well, for one, the magic consumption for summoning and using a True Divine Miracle is a hundred times larger than the fake ones made from my Projection Magia and from using my Elemental Magias, not to mention _Vasavi Shakti_ in particular nearly completely depletes my magic storage with just one use. Second, the fight was about endurances, opportunities, and critical blows. I had to stay alive for a long time and devise an optimal plan and opening to kill that thing in one finishing strike, needing to search and prepare the most effective openings, weapon and skills. If anything, wasting magic on multiple powerful blows is tantamount to suicide. There's also the fact that I've had to make sure I only cut its head enough times till there was nine of them _and_ make sure I can lure it into attacking me with all its heads at the same time, which requires luck, something I obviously barely have, not to mention that killing it by explosions will just activate the hydra's regeneration ability. Putting it shortly, I don't wanna fight those things again. Ah, I just wanna be a spoony bard and sing in random, nameless pubs! All this stress is going to make me a wrinkly old man in my forties!" Karna complained, causing Cana to start laughing in amusement.

Her little brother's tirades, despite how ridiculous they sound, is a good source entertainment. Especially when Cana is quite tipsy. She'd often come out sober laughing from the ridiculousness of her little brother's complaints on the sudden misfortunes on his jobs or on daily life. It was as if he was a walking personification of bad luck. Although, there were also times they made Cana actually worry and start going around buying good luck charms to give to Karna.

Then she finds out they had no effect the next day, as evidenced by Karna whining about stepping on a hundred dog craps, getting dropped on with bird shit at any place with no rooftop, someone crashing and spilling something on him 5 times in a row within a 10 minute interval, accidentally walking in on a girl bathing in the forest rivers and getting slapped and reported for it, his lunch getting burnt by Natsu, frozen by Gray or stolen by a random cat, and his wallet magically disappearing after a trip to the bathroom. It was as of the world itself was working to the bone to screw Karna's daily life so hard.

"Say…did I pass the exams, Sis?" Karna asked, looking Cana in the eye. Cana makes a sigh, and looks Karna in the eye.

"Yes. In fact, the ceremony is about to take place one week from now on. Don't worry, I know where to buy the best blue marlins in the market! So, for now, eat these fruits I've brought, alright?" Cana says with a proud smile on her face, before giving a head pat to Karna, "Congratulations, my little brother. You've done well. As your big sis, I'm really, really proud of you right now!" Cana then proceeds to ruffle Karna's hair playfully, much to the latter's embarrassment. Despite his outside reactions, Cana knew however that her little brother still enjoys these head pats to this day, and she herself enjoyed doing it ever since they were young. Besides, his red embarrassed face is really cute…and hilarious.

"What in the-cut that out, already! I'm fifteen now, damn it!" Karna tried to struggle with a red face, only for Cana to use her free hand to hug him and not let go, causing another long moment of embarrassment to the fresh S-Class Mage…

* * *

 _A week has passed since then…_

"Congratulations, Karna!" The members of Fairy Tail greeted alongside Makarov, the entire guild wearing happy smiles and pairing it up with happy cheers. Currently, inside the guild building, is a celebration in honor for two of the members having reached S-Class. Namely, Mystogan, and Karna. The former, however, did not show up, causing the party goers to focus their greetings on the latter instead. The party begins, with everyone now either having their attention on devouring the food and drinks on the tables, or congratulating Karna. The fresh S-Class mage made sure to thank everyone as they greeted him.

"You bastard! You said you were just going to Caelum for blonde haired she-elves, not for the S-Class Exam! Where's your elf girlfriend you promised to show us? And where's the green haired elf girl you promised to introduce me to?!" A loud voice boomed from the crowd. Karna looks for the source, only for him to quickly roll out of the way as a punch attempted to land on his way. Karna quickly looked up, and sees the culprit for the surprise assault.

The culprit is a tall, slim young man with black hair kept in an unusual, distinctive hairstyle, with a tuft of hair on top of his head jutting upwards and then curving frontwards, being reminiscent of a plant's stem. His hair extends in a rounded form on his forehead, and was cut on both sides of hiss head in a spiraling motif. His outfit consisted of a simple white shirt, green checkered pants, and dark shoes with lighter soles.

"Whoa, Droy, no need to get hostile! The elves migrated…thousands of years ago! The priestesses just recently told me about that, so I'm really sorry!" Karna quickly recognized the man as Droy, a member of Team Shadow Gear, and one of his first friends in the guild. However, before Karna could do any retorts, he gets forced to quickly make a quick step to the right as he dodged a roundhouse kick from his left.

The second assaulter appears to be a slim, young man of average height with orange hair, kept jutting backwards at the sides of his head. He has a sharp face, a prominent, flat and defined nose pointing downwards, and distinctive teeth, with a protruding, sharp, triangular-shaped upper molar complemented by a chipped portion on the lower row, something which allows him to close his teeth completely despite such a peculiar physical irregularity. The man donned an open, light-brown coat with yellowish fur trimmings on its edges and sleeves, which reached down below his elbows. Below it was a high-collared purple shirt, with its collar mostly left open, which was sometimes seen left hanging over the checkered belt below it, with a rectangular buckle, and others tucked inside the baggy dark pants covering his legs, in turn tucked inside dark boots.

"Don't let up in beating this liar, Droy! He promised me a date with one of Caleum's local priestesses in exchange for lending him my limited edition copy of Madoka Magia for two months, too! And he didn't bring any priestesses!" The orange haired man, whom Karna recognized as Jet, ranted as he pointed at Karna.

"Well, now, I tried my best to fulfill that promise! But…you see, while the priestesses were really happy with your intentions, Jet, they sadly could not go over here in Magnolia…due to their _aching joints and back._ " Karna explained. Jet's eyebrows quickly raised at the words " _aching joints_ " and " _back_ ", before his eyes shrunk at the realization.

"Wait…are you telling me that the Temple of Indra in Caleum only has old hags?! There's no young girls in there?! I thought you said-"

"I did say I'd bring you dates with a priestess…" Karna cuts off Jet, while wearing a big, victorious smirk on his face, "…But I never did say I'd bring you dates with YOUNG priestesses, didn't I? And besides, you never specified about it when we made the deal! So of course, as you and I declared on our little contract, I just did as you asked, down to the letter, and voila, I asked for any single priestesses in the temple! Too bad, they just all so happened to already have grand kids on the knees. Tsk, tsk!" Saying that, Karna quickly takes out a bundle of boxes from behind him, and places them right beside the shell shocked Jet, who is currently imagining the image of dating multiple grandmothers at once. Meanwhile, as this occurred, the laughs of the entire guild echoed around the place as they continued with the celebratory party.

"And now, with the return of your Madoka Magia Limited Edition Movie Lacrima, our contract is fulfilled!" Karna happily declares, his smirk not diminishing one bit. Meanwhile, losing out on another contract with Karna for the umpteenth time, Jet stares at the wall bricks as his dreams and hopes of dating an innocent, sheltered _young_ priestess went down the drain. The Team Shadow Gear member swore that he won't be getting in another deal with Karna ever again…for the umpteenth time as well.

"Hey, Karna! Over here!" The voice of a girl calls out, causing Karna to look for the source. From beside the long table with a long box atop of it is a young, petite teenage girl of a slender build who stands at a rather below-average height for her age. Her shoulder-length blue hair, which has eyebrow-length bangs, is normally tied up with a colorful bandana around her head. She wears a sleeveless, orange colored dress.

"Ah, Levy. Need something?" Karna says, having calmed down a little now from his little victory, heads for Levy's location. The S-Class Mage takes a quick glance at the long, rectangular box before returning his attention back to his blue haired friend.

"Well, I'm here for one thing, of course! Droy, the box, now!" Levy outright declares, with Droy giving an affirmative nod, and proceeds to lift the box on the table. Revealed to be beneath the box is a cake, with icing shaped like letters designed on top of it. The words say " _Congratulations!_ "

"Congrats on passing, Karna! And in honor of that…Me, Cana, Jet, and Droy over there teamed up and baked this masterpiece!" Levy says aloud, causing Droy to give a small nod to Karna, while Jet decided to hide his face and looked away, despite having a proud, happy smirk on his face.

"Is that so?" Karna says, before looking at the trio who helped make the cake. A grateful smile is brightly visible on the former's face, "Sugar is literally my lifeblood these days, you know? Thanks, everyone!" Karna says, before being gestured to by Levy to start eating the cake, pointing to the plate, dining knife and fork set right beside the large dessert. Giving a thankful, wordless nod to Levy, Karna heads for where the utensils were placed.

"Hey, S-Class prick! Eat this! _Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!_ "

Another loud voice interrupts Karna's happy moment, and senses a surge of fire magic from somewhere within the room. In response, the fresh S-Class Mage quickly chants a spell as he sees the flaming attacker a few walks away from him, hands already in flames and is charging in at high speeds. Karna quickly recognized the attacker as Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail's most hard-hitting fire mage…and the biggest culprit in collateral damages on the job. Remembering that little trivia, Karna's mind quickly remembers the vulnerable cake behind him, and activates his magic in alarm.

Ever since Karna paid him back hard for a beat down he received from the Fire Dragon Slayer a few years ago, Natsu kept on challenging him repeatedly, wanting to even out " _the score_ ". At the same time, Karna had lost count of all the dinners or lunch on his table that got burnt or blasted off by an attack from Natsu. Seriously, why does it always have to be at the time when he was eating, Karna questioned himself.

" _Ice Magia_ : _Diamond Photon Ray!_ " Karna chants, summoning a gigantic, blue-colored glyph above the area in the direction where the flaming attacker is heading towards. The moment Natsu jumped into mid-air and got within range, the glyph fired a blue colored beam of light…which the attacker saw, having no way to dodge mid-motion.

"Hey, that's cheating! Oh, god damn it-"

The beam of light hits the attacker, before exploding and dissipating into pieces. Left in its place is a large, hexagonal shaped pillar of ice that shone and reflected light like a diamond would. Within it is Natsu with flaming hands, frozen inside along with his flames. Karna made a sigh of irritation as he looked at the recently frozen victim. Meanwhile, the ones who witnessed the event made another hearty laugh at another normal event in the guild, especially a winged blue cat who floated right in front of the ice pillar. Karna recognized the creature as Happy, Natsu's constant companion. Apparently, a flying cat. Something that is very uncommon even in a magic laden world, Karna thought. In fact, he still has no idea on what specie of animal Happy is supposed to be, even up till now.

Because, last time he checked, there was no historical records of cats evolving from a winged ancestor. Nor did cats ever had the ability to speak human tongue.

"And the score is now 52 – 1! Karna wins again!" Happy declares, before giving thumbs up at Karna, who then reciprocates with the same gesture.

"Phew, now I can-"

A loud explosion and multiple surges of magic cuts Karna off. To his horror, the fighting spirit of nearly everyone in the guild got ignited, thanks to the quick squabble between him and Natsu. Within a few seconds, each Fairy Tail Mage started brawling with the nearest living being they can find, causing a barrage of fists and magic to start blasting all over the place. The entire guild building became a haven of chaos. Karna began to sweat bullets and had a slight heart attack when he saw a lance of ice barely struck the top of the cake and struck Natsu's prison of ice.

" _You know what? Screw this! I'm taking my cake and my sizzling blue marlin home!_ " Karna thought.

Without wasting a second, Karna bolts off to the plate Levy had pointed earlier, takes the knife, cuts a large portion of the cake, puts it on a plate, casts a barrier spell on it, and runs to the exit of the guild building amidst the chaos, only for the way to be blocked by a set of ice lances that fell from above. Karna quickly traces the magic signature, and finds the culprit of the blockade, standing a few meters behind him, wearing nothing but a…no, rather, he is wearing nothing at all other than the black hair on his head and the necklace on his neck. From his magic signature and subconscious perverted tendencies, he is no doubt Gray Fullbuster, Fairy Tail's Ice Magic equivalent of Natsu.

And by that, they're both annoying, fight-happy idiots, Karna thought.

"Ah…what the hell, Gray?! Can't you see this lovely dessert in my hands is in danger?!" Karna shouts, only for the young man named Gray to reply with a snicker.

"Where do you think you're going, _Solomon?_ " Gray calls out Karna by his title, a proof of Karna's mastery of Multiple Magic Types and as well as the 8 Elemental Magics. Gray kept his arms crossed as he spoke, _"_ I was about to settle the score with Natsu, and yet, you really just had to-"

"Go back to the Red Light District, you icy stripper. At least put on some boxers when you're not on the job for a lap dance!" Karna quickly quips, causing the Ice Mage to look down on his lower area…and go pale from the shock caused by the late revelation. Gray swore, he was wearing pants 10 seconds ago! How in the world did it even-

" _Aero Magia: Panta Rhei!_ " Karna quickly chanted as Gray was distracted. A gigantic, glowing green glyph is summoned right in front of Karna, facing Gray's direction. The Ice Mage notices the heavy surge of magic, and turns his attention to the glyph in alarm. However, it was too late, as the green glyph fired a large, wide powerful beam of wind, blasting away Gray and the many other unfortunate mages that got caught in the attack, sending them all the way to the wall in the opposite end of the guild building with a single blast, plastering them there like they were an abstract work of art.

Meanwhile, Karna wastes no time and kicks the ice lances that blocked the exit. With the blockade gone, the S-Class Mage bolts out of the Fairy Tail guild building, and runs all the way to the direction of Magnolia's residential district, where his and Cana's home can be found…

" _Not even my celebratory party is safe from the rumbles…that's Fairy Tail for ya!_ "

* * *

The door of Alberona household makes a slight creaking as Karna went in and closed it, cake still on his hand. The smell of something being cooked, a sizzling dish in particular, invades Karna's nostrils. The mage had a smile on his face as his promised blue marlin hasn't reached the chaotic Fairy Tail building at all, and is completely safe in his home, and is still half-way being cooked, judging from the sizzling sounds coming from the kitchen.

Making a fully relieved sigh, Karna heads for the dining room, and calls out, "Sis, I'm home!"

"Ah. You're done with the party, Karna? That was fast. Did you at least take a piece of the cake that team Shadow Gear made for you?" Cana's voice echoed from the kitchen, with it being quite audible due to the area being separated by only a thin wall and a door away from the dining room. Meanwhile, Karna just proceeds to place the plate with cake on the table, before taking a seat, clearly tired from the ruckus earlier, and from having to cast two Arcane Tier Spells and nearly eviscerating his already paltry magic reserves.

"Yep. I got to take a large portion of the cake before everyone ramped up the party to a hardcore rumble. That said, I bolted off from there before they obliterated my cake. Oh, and I took enough for the two of us to eat it together." Karna bluntly stated, earning him a small giggle from his sister, who already expected the situation to happen, considering her guild's antics. Meanwhile, Karna began to rest his eyes, and eventually rested his head on the dining table. As his consciousness started to slip, the mage grumbled about doing something about his seriously lethal paltry magic reserves…

"Oh, crap! I'm out of onions! Karna, mind buying ten of those from the nearby store for me?" Cana's voiced echoed again, causing Karna to slip back into reality.

"Alright. Got it. Gimme a few minutes, Sis." Karna replied, before yawning, stretching, and standing up, then heading for the main door of the Alberona residence. If he remembered correctly, old Laura's shop is still open at this time of the evening…

* * *

"Brrr…the sun has just set, and Magnolia is this cold! It's December, alright! I really hate wasting magic, but… _Pyrix Magia: Robe of the Fire Rat!_ " Karna casted the spell. Having forgotten to wear his jacket against the cold air of the season, the mage mentally palmed his face as he gets forced to waste more magic for warmth. A glyph of flames appeared in front of him, around the size of a plate. It quickly disintegrates into orange colored energy that engulfed Karna's body, wrapping him in comfortable warmth for the rest of his errand in the streets of Magnolia.

"Ahh…that's the stuff. Now, for that onion…" Karna stretches himself to oust the remaining cold in his body, before heading for the commercial area-

"Kyaaah!" The voice of a girl screaming followed by someone dunking into the water got Karna up in alarm. Following the source of the voice, he finds a hooded figure trembling in the shallow waters of the Magnolian river, seemingly having accidentally slipped from the edge of the road beside the river. While indeed not in the danger of drowning, hypothermia is going to be the enemy of the seemingly unmoving hooded girl if she doesn't move and warm herself up quickly. Karna rushes to the edge of the road beside the river, and quickly offers a hand.

"Miss, are you hurt anywhere? Here, please grab my hand. The bricks are a bit slippery from all the moss, so we'll need to pull you up from there." Karna explained, causing the hooded girl to seemingly gasp and stare at him for a minute, before nodding and grabbing his hand tightly with her left hand. As Karna pulls her up, the mage noticed a few tears falling from the girl's face, and that her hands are trembling as well. And from what Karna could see from outside the hood, the girl has long, blond hair, as they reached the area right above the chests.

"…Thank you." The hooded girl says, her tone suggesting that she's somewhat fighting sobs between words.

"…Uh, are you really alright? What happened for you to have fallen in there? Did you slip on the edge?" Karna asked, causing the hooded girl to nod frantically, and point to the river with her left hand.

"My…wedding ring. I was planning to wash my hands onto the river, so I removed it for a bit. When I stood back up, I accidentally kicked it into the river, and I dove in to look for it. I couldn't let it go, you see, as it is my late husband's memento for me…" The hooded girl says, her left hand still trembling as it pointed. Meanwhile, Karna makes a relieved sigh about the girl's situation, seeing that she was unhurt. But, as for that ring…oh well, Cana's onions can wait, right?

"I see. Then, leave it to me! But, first, here: A warming spell for you. It'll keep you warm just right for this season's weather and even dry your clothes! Oh, and mind telling me if your ring has some special designs that I can recognize it by?" Karna declares with a smile, before casting his spell, " _Pyrix Magia: Robe of the Fire Rat!_ "

A glyph of fire floated right in front of the hooded girl, before disintegrating into orange colored energy and wrapping the girl with it, warming her up and drying the lower parts of her coat that got wet.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. As for my ring…it's a gold wedding ring, with an engraved H and an engraved A on the opposing sides in the inner ring area. That's my wedding ring." The girl says, her voice still on the verge of crying.

"I see. Then, the ring fell near where you stood in the water, right?" Karna asked, causing the hooded girl to nod affirmatively.

"Alright, then. Wait here." Karna says, before fully turning his attention to the river. He raises his own left hand, showing his Fairy Tail Guild Mark, as his left palm glowed with a green colored light. The hooded girl fought another urge to cry as she saw the guild mark.

" _Aero Magia: Sylph Barrier!_ "

Karna casted, summoning a green glyph of wind facing the river from the side. The glyph then explodes and turns into a ray of green light that slams the targeted area of the river like a sword, before parting it open and leaving a barrier of wind that stopped the flow of the water, leaving the dry ground ready for searching. Karna quickly discovers the gold ring glittering from where he stood, and he swiftly jumps in to run and grab the ring. He quickly searches it for the engravings the hooded girl mentioned, and indeed found the letters "H" and "A" engraved on the inner ring side. Sighing with relief, Karna swiftly runs and climbs back to the riverside road, and deactivates his _Sylph Barrier_ Magia Spell. The walls of wind that block the water disappeared, and allowed the river the flow freely once more.

"Phew! Thank goodness, that went fast! Here's your ring-huh?! Where did she go?" Karna exclaimed, as he did not see the hooded girl anywhere. Not on the nearby bridge, not on the seats on the riverside road, not anywhere at all. Seeing this, Karna sighs, and looks at the wedding ring in his hands. He would really love to look for that hooded lady, but, he still has his onions to buy and food to eat back home.

"Oh well. Just gonna keep this ring till I meet that lady again. She should at least recognize my face if she wants her husband's memento back. Meanwhile, gonna go get that onion!" Karna tells himself as he jogged towards the shopping district, increasing his speed steadily as to not piss off Cana back home for being late.

The mage jogged on and on, unaware of the hooded girl that watched him from atop one of the buildings. She makes a determined look, and heads down, having her own destinations and agendas to fulfill.

11 years…

She has 11 years to undo it.

To undo that mistake…and save everyone from their fate.

Especially the one she loved the most, who suffered the most, unable to rest in peace for the rest of eternity, having been the result of giving away his soul in exchange for power to save everyone else other than himself…

She will put a stop to it with all she has, the hooded girl swore with all her heart and soul…

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:  
**_

 _ **Karna's last name, Augustus, is a homage to his original name as August, of course.**_

 _ **Karna's full title is "Solomon, the King of Magic", as an indicator of his masteries of multiple magic types and element magics in a time span faster than normal mages could, even to those having a sole specialization in the aforementioned magic type/element.**_

 _ **Karna has two main weaknesses: His seriously paltry magic reserves, which forces him to micromanage magic usage in all his fights, and his lethally crap luck, as it completely screws over majority of his primary battle analysis and plans, which forces him to anticipate failure as the biggest possible results of his plans and causes him to make a lot of "Plan B's" when making strategies. He never experienced a fight where he could go easy and not anticipate failure. Blame Makarov's naming sense for this one.  
**_


	2. Woman in White

_**A/N: A few things I would like to mention:**_

 _ **This story will have Arcs differing from the ones back in the manga/anime, as an S-Class Mage will have missions that are different from non-S ones. (S-Rank Missions, for one) Be assured that Fairy Tail characters WILL appear in each one, however.**_

 ** _Also, some optional background music things:_**

 ** _For any scenes involving riding inside a carriage, please play "Main Theme" from Red Dead Redemption_**

 ** _For any scenes involving a deserted village, please play "White Orchard Theme" from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt_**

 ** _For any scenes involving combat, please play "Battle Theme" from Romancing Saga Re:Universe_**

 ** _For any scenes involving rescuing a hostage, please play "0" from Code Geass (Note: No, it's not the Letter O. It's literally the number 0)_**

 ** _For any scenes inside Fairy Tail's Guild Building, please play "I'll take all the Treasure!" from Romancing Saga Minstrel Song_**

 ** _For any scenes inside a train, please play "Diner Car" from Final Fantasy XV_**

 ** _Please do remember that playing these songs are just an optional choice, and are not really needed for the enjoyment of the story. They are just there for a slight enhancement of the atmosphere when reading specific scenes._**

* * *

 _ **Fairy Frontier:**_

 _ **Romancing Saga**_

 _Chapter 1:_

 _ **"The Woman in White"**_

* * *

The loud sounds of wooden wheels crashing and sliding against rocks and sands echoed dimly to the passengers of the transportation carriage as four aligned horses pulled it with dedication. Birds can be heard chirping all around, due to the sunrise finally halfway done, with multiple other animals waking up and making noises upon their morning routines. The morning winds can be heard and felt caressing the walls of cloth that protected the transport carriage.

Inside are four different people.

One of them is a young man, with messy blond hair, ivory skin, and has a pair of emerald eyes. He wears an open, blood red leather long coat, folded neatly at the elbows. He wears a body-fit, elbow length sleeve, turtle neck black shirt beneath. A black leather belt with a copper buckle holds his black pants. A pair of black combat boots are worn on his feet, while a pair of black leather gloves are worn on his hands. He also appears to be carrying a black colored box with him, with an insignia of a certain Magic Guild engraved on it, as well as a note that says " _Happy Birthday, little bro! You're reached the age of 17 years, so let's drink to that! Well, normally, that's what I'd say. I heard from Erza about your guns, and how you're too broke to repair your old ones, so I asked Alzack and Bisca about where to get some new ones instead. On that note, do TRY not to break this one within the month, alright? I went and used 8 weeks' worth of drinking money for this, after all~! That's not even to mention having to not tell the Guild Master of your location AND paying a little bit more for that carrier bird to get this to you as soon as possible. Ah, for you to rely on me this much…you really are my dumbass, helpless little brother, no matter the weather or year._

 _Good luck, and be safe._

 _From your one and only best big sis!_ "

The blond haired young man smiled at the letter, before tucking the box in a hug. Can't go damaging the gift before using it, after all. In the meanwhile, he takes a look at the other passengers in the cart. While checking out strangers was not his favorite hobby, the boy couldn't help but be curious about the sudden rise of passengers in a public cart headed for the some of the most ignored and uncharted countryside regions of the main continent. From his own travelling experience of five years, the fact that a countryside cart has more than one passenger smells funny, especially during the times of the year where there are no grand festivals happening in the Continent's main city, where the aforementioned countryside carts would have the excuse of having the countryside visitors safely delivered to the main cities and vice versa.

The young man needed but a glance. He has to see at least some small details about these people…But alas, all three wear some rather large, generic travelling hooded cloaks. One that does not allow him to distinguish any of them unless they start talking. Curses, the boy thought.

…Well, sure, his business is obviously not connected with theirs, but, seeing as how the quiet countryside regions are ignored and uncharted even till now…the isolation and lack of attention to those places makes them quite the ideal criminal hideouts and bases. But even with this being the case, the Mage Council and the Law Enforcement of the main cities and the entire continent in general does not bat an eye to these problems, unless the aforementioned criminals were infamous ones that will give them promotion upon the arrest or defeat in battle. After all, it's just some region with a few poor villages out in the uncharted sticks, where even the most cleverly set businesses will do majestically poorly. Why put in the effort of protecting such crap hole when they could just focus on the large cities?

The boy has decided to stay put for now. After all, he still has some contracts to fulfill. No, those are not Magic Guild contracts sent for his guild, but…

"Ah, we have arrived! Mister Moriarty, we are at Hanged Man's Tree now! You up in there?"

The blonde young man rose up from his seat from his last name, ' _Moriarty'_ , being called. Box still in hand, he hops off the cart, and heads to where the driver is seated. ' _Moriarty_ ' then takes out a pouch that contained ten gold coins, and hands it to the driver, who somehow sensed the weight of the pouch and made a guess on its amount.

"Are-are you sure about this, Mister?" The driver asked, eyes widened in honest surprise. ' _Moriarty_ ' gave him a nod and a smile in response.

"Yes. Have something to eat in the upcoming month, ya hear? Later then, Mister Cromwell. I shall see you on my trip back." ' _Moriarty_ ' declares as he turns his back on the cart and its driver, heading straight for the center of the village. The cart's driver, Cromwell, waved his hand in gratitude at the departing young man.

"Thank you, Mister! I shall make sure to prepare my cart for your departure anytime!" Cromwell declared happily, before taking the reigns once more and heading for his next destination: The village chief's Mansion, where the rest of his passengers aim to go to…

Meanwhile, as he walked towards the village gates, ' _Moriarty_ ' could only muse at the name he chose as cover. For someone who's gonna be wandering the countryside for months, he sure as hell chose a flashy name. Sounds like someone who tends to get robbed on these parts. But, then again…

That is, after all, the intention behind the cover name that the Fairy Tail Mage, Karna Augustus, chose. The rather flashy name of a city-bred Mage Mercenary called ' _Seifer Moriarty_.' Having a name like that will certainly attract the local banditry, and thus, in turn…

…Saving Karna the effort of finding them. Well, that, and the knowledge of an S-Class Mage wandering around the countryside is a good recipe for disaster for the locals. Also, Makarov or Erza will personally search for him and whack his ass for getting off course on the road back home after one overseas job, which is why Karna had to goof around with a cover name. While the Guild Master does know of the circumstances of the countryside regions, he will not allow any Fairy Tail Mage to go solving problems there without, of course, the Magic Council's permission.

Not that Karna nor the constantly in danger villages and people of the uncharted regions care for much. That's not to mention, the current village he's in was recently a part of a battlefield as of late; Meaning that the defenseless villages in it are a perfect prey for deserted soldier squads or bandits. Or if that's not bad enough, the corpses of the battlefield near the villages will attract the dangerously aggressive Necrophages; Undead-like monsters attracted to the scent of rotting flesh, but will spare no effort in cutting down and eating up a living being as well. Or worse, magically based monsters can jump into the blood baths as well…

As a fellow S-Rank Fairy Tail Mage, Gildarts, would tell Karna; " _Whichever Uncharted Region you go, have no doubt that there's always a high chance that it's gonna be one hell of a festering shithole. As you yourself will see, the Magic Council is doing a good job of protecting these places and its people_ … _ **on paper, that is**_ _._ "

It was hearing that line and his research onto these places that drew Karna into his own personal crusade of helping out these regions by himself since then. The sight he saw when he first visited his first Uncharted Region only strengthened his desire to help out the ones forgotten by the _amazingly hard-working_ Magic Council…

* * *

If there was one thing that Karna had found common between one countryside village to another, its a few glaring details.

The surroundings which at first seem idyllic. Clear skies abound and the village's trees are bursting with flowers and fruits. But, it will take but a moment to notice the tell-tale signs of war and violence; Collapsed roofs, turned-over carts littering the roadside, and abandoned possessions strewn about the neglected nearby farmyards. This juxtaposition of a warm, sunny spring and a landscape rife with destruction and conflicts simply proves one thing; Evil continues to upend human lives no matter the weather or time of the year. Something that the esteemed Magical protectors of the continent certainly gives no flying craps about.

There wasn't even any workers doing their jobs nor children playing around, a good sign that this village has been attacked and raided more than a few times. The Fairy Tail Mage cursed vehemently under his breath. It appears that Karna had arrived a tad too late. But despite this, he should at least check the village's bulletin board. He might find a few clues in there…

After a few seconds of walking around the desolate and dreary village, Karna finally found the bulletin board, signifying that he is now indeed in the middle of town. He rushed towards it, finding a few pieces of pinned requests, whose ink had begun to dry under the sun but still visible enough to be read. However, as he neatly stacked them for reading, a loud sound from the nearby rooftops alerted the Mage, and sensed something fast incoming.

Karna swiftly stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding a knife that was aimed for his head. He quickly searches the direction where the knife's handle pointed to, finding two cloaked men wielding knives, axes, and shields on the rooftops.

"Goddangit, Jamal! Aim for his head, not the fookin' bulleting board! Ya know what, screw this. Everyone, attack!" One of the men on the roof, wielding the axe, shouted. Karna quickly analyzed his surroundings. The fact that there are bandits instead of the usual residents filled the village can mean two things…

One, that the villagers have all been kidnapped, or worse, killed, with none remaining. Two, there might be ones that remained unharmed and managed to escape to what might be the Village Chief's manor. Cromwell did tell him about the large place being the center of events for festivals, meaning that it is also large enough to be a defensive evacuation center during the desperate times.

However, before Karna can make more assumptions, enemy bandits have started pouring into the village, numbering about at least twelve in number. Tossing the box his carrying very high into the air, the Fairy Tail Mage proceeds to stretch his limbs. Time to see how long can this bunch of scum last for entertainment!

Four armed bandits ran out of a corner from the eastern building. Three jumped from another building's windows. Three rushed out of the pub's doors. Two more climbed up the rooftops, single-action bolt rifles in hand.

Karna smirked.

"This party's gettin' crazy. Let's rock! _Aero Magia: Sylph Sphere!_ " Karna quickly chants the spell, summoning a wide glyph below him. In a split second, a spinning sphere of wind dances and covers the entire village, its flow causing thick dust to fly all over, effectively blinding the sight of the rooftop snipers. The ground combatants, however, were not covered by the sand storm, and could clearly see Karna, who in turn is already giving them a taunting gesture with his hands.

"Hey, what's up? Losing your nerve after losing your sniper?" Karna mockingly declared.

"Cocky little-! Screw George's orders, and charge! Surround the Spell Caster!" One of the bandits roared. The others are roused by the call, and went on to charge simultaneously, not wanting to let the Mage cast even but a single spell.

One bandit executes a stabbing strike towards Karna's throat, only for it to miss as the Mage casually moves his upper body slightly to the left, before tripping the bandit with one of his legs, causing the criminal to start tumbling all the way to a barrel of unused, filthy water. Another bandit does a descending slash with his axe towards the Mage's head, only for it to hit the ground. The bandit tries to look around, only to find the effort too late as Karna, now carrying an entire bucket full of water and with a smirk on his face, is slowly walking towards the criminal.

"Good morning, sunshine!" With that declaration, Karna slams the wooden bucket of water at the bandit's face, knocking out the latter cold and wet. The bucket also shattered in the process.

"I gave him cold, refreshing water and this is the thanks I get? Sleeping on me? Really? Is this what counts as gratitude among the banditry these days? Geez, what a dick." Karna complained, acting like he just got duped into giving away a precious resource. The other remaining bandits looked annoyed and confused at the same time. Just what in the world is going on inside that Mage's mind, they asked themselves. Were they going up against someone insane?

"You're the one who knocked him out, you dumb cunt!" One of the bandits retorted.

"Ah, but you got it wrong, Mister. I didn't knock him out. He knocked _himself_ out!" Karna replied, making a gesture to the knocked out bandit on the ground. The other criminals scratched their heads and palmed their faces. On what grounds is this their comrade's fault?!

"How…what is that even supposed to mean?! I mean, how is that even possible?!" Another bandit asked.

Karna made a somewhat disappointed look as he spoke, "Oh, come on. I know you fellas are desperate and hungry, not intellectually retarded. Do I really have to point out that he made an unwise decision of not moving his face when I tried to let him drink from that bucket of water? Indra almighty, has the lack of water and dignity really stripped you people of the ability to think these days?"

"Why you little-! Stop spouting bullshit that doesn't make sense! You know what? I'll just kill you and be done with this. Everyone, let's charge once again-huh?!" The bandit looked below him, and finds himself standing right above a purple colored glyph that danced with lightning. All the other surround bandits are in the same situation as well. It was at this moment, the bandit realized…

…The sudden conversation the Mage started wasn't out of his own stupidity, nor something he did out of malice against the criminals, nor was it out of insanity. It was a distraction. _It was a calculated move._

"…Goddamnit." The bandit cursed, resigning to his fate.

" _Electro Magia: Lightning Impalement!_ " Karna casted the spell, chanting it with a loud voice, causing small lightning bolts to surge around the purple glyphs below the bandits, paralyzing them and preventing any escape from the spell's incoming full damage. In a split second, a great sword completely made of lightning burst forth from the glyphs, instantly frying and finishing off the bandits in a single wave, and leaving them knocked out and burned onto the ground just as fast.

"…Now that's horrifying. Looks like Level 2 Spells were too much for these scum. I thought they'd at least have a little bit of magic resistance, having the balls to attack a fully prepared Mage. Oh well. Gonna have to tie them up later with a chain from a Metal spell. For now…I should find a way to deal with the rooftop snipers. My _Sylph Sphere_ spell is about to turn off, and being out in the visible open with snipers around is basically tantamount to suicide." Karna commented as he looked up, and sees the box he threw upward earlier now about to fall down. The Fairy Tail Mage caught it, and proceeds to run for the abandoned pub that some of the bandits jumped out from earlier. Now would be a good chance to see what expensive pair of _Ether Revolvers_ could have costed his older sister, Cana, an entire month of her drinking money. He should at least make good use of them and make his sister proud, after all.

* * *

Makarov, the 4th Guild Master of Fairy Tail, placed a palm on his forehead as he digested the contents of the report that has been laid on his table. He knew that Karna, being the free-spirited young man with a strong wanderlust, would goof off as soon as he is done with a job. What Makarov didn't expect was the young Mage going on to Unhcarted Regions and the Countryside regions to stop civil wars, organized and efficient raiding and robbing of bandit camps and criminal bases, relentless bounty hunting, igniting successful rebellions against the corrupt Governor of the regions, getting smashed on the local pubs and committing all sorts of alcohol induced idiocy, and completing all available Job Requests, like Missing Persons Search and Monster Slaying Jobs in that place. The 4th Guild Master knew that this particular child of his is vehemently not fond of the Magic Council and the rules they set up, but to be stealthily breaking the rules like this and quite literally doing what he wants…

" _Sigh…_ For the love of all that is magical, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later." Makarov groaned as he takes the reports and looks through them again. Without a doubt, if one takes a very careful look at each and every small details of the reports; the overall combat tactics, jobs taken, and political scheming recorded is indeed the handiwork of Karna. If there was one saving grace to all this, his child at least had the common sense of using a fake identity to pull off all these hijinks. That one move lessened the chance of the Magic Council finding out he's a Fairy Tail Mage, and that since the Council and their investigators do not really give a flying damn about the Uncharted Regions and thus not making any effort to properly investigate details, they can't trace the deeds to Karna as well. To Makarov, it was not like reading the deeds of a Mage. It was like reading through the movements of a well organized Crime Lord.

But, enough is enough. Makarov decided it's time for his boy to lay low and stick to his actual job as a proper Mage…whether he likes it or not. For a short while at least. And thus, Makarov makes a decision. He turns his attention to the red haired Mage in the room, who saw the look in the Guild Master's eyes and stood straight as a result.

"Erza, these are your orders. Bring back that moron so that I may give him a piece of my mind. Make sure to bring Cana with you as well. Seeing her with you should soften his hard head if but for a few moments. Please…make sure that impulsive dumbass child of mine makes it back without the Investigators of the Council on his back." Makarov declared with a stern, but a worrying voice.

In response, Erza Scarlet smiled softly. Despite the cunning and craftiness Karna displayed in covering his tracks in those reports, Makarov is still the ever the worrying father to his guild, she thought. Making a slight bow, Erza gives her reply.

"Understood, Guild Master. I'll make sure he comes home safe and sound." The red haired S-Rank Mage replied, before turning her back and leaving for the door. As the foor closed, Makarov made a sigh. Hopefully, this will pass with little to no incident. For all his intelligence, Karna really must learn the value of waiting for the right opportunities when it comes to exacting justice, Makarov thought to himself. That child of his is gonna be in for one hell of a lecture once he arrives home…

* * *

Karna opened the black box, only for his eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets as he recognized what was inside the box.

It was a pair of magically calibrated revolvers, otherwise known as Ether Revolvers, but they're not like the usual ones Karna would see. These pair of revolvers were nearly three times as large as their common counterparts. Even the bullets, which were placed beside the gun inside the box, are as large as shotgun shells. Kana really went all out in the search of these things, Karna thought with gratitude. The Fairy Tail Mage reads the engraving on the inner walls of the box, and finds out the Model Name of the revolvers: ' _.500 Smith and Wesson Magnum Revolver._ '

Shaking off his awe, Karna proceeds to lock and load the revolvers. He opens the cylinder for the bullets, and finds out that it has five chambers for use, compared to the usual six chambers of a normal revolver. Although, seeing ridiculously the large rounds, Karna thought it would make sense to have lesser space for an extra shot. The Fairy Tail Mage then loads all bullets for both revolvers, before proceeding to place all unloaded rounds inside the bullet pouch strapped on the backside of his pants. He also goes on to equip the pair of gun holsters from the box, thankful that Cana thought this far and also knew that his holsters were also ripped off from his previous fights.

Now loaded and ready, Karna goes on to position himself beside the window of the empty pub, and sees his Sylph Sphere spell finally fade away, leaving an empty road filled with eight unconscious bandits. Karna quickly hides behind the walls of the window when he heard the voices of the snipers. While he would normally try to take out ranged enemies with spells, Karna learned the hard way two years ago that attempting to chant spells against a group of gunslingers was a bad idea, hence, which is why after that particular embarrassment on the battlefield, he asks for some help concerning guns and their use from Fairy Tail's resident gunslingers, Alzack and Bisca. The two were ecstatic to help, as another gunslinger mage is gonna be added to the guild this way. That, and at least they wouldn't look too niche in a guild full of actual spellcasters.

"Damn it, what the hell just happened?!"

"If all our men down there are out, then he's probably still nearby! Half of us search, other half remain here on the roofs!"

The sounds of footsteps landing on the ground echoed. Karna slowly peeked from the side of the window, and began looking for the rooftop snipers. The ground forces aren't a problem, as they aren't gonna be able to snipe him from a blind spot from above. And thus, the Fairy Tail Mage decided that the best choice for now is to look for the enemies on the roofs.

" _Aero Magia: Fairy Heartbeat._ " Karna chanted the spell, causing his body to give off a slight green glow, a sign that he has gain the ability to sense vibrations in the air, no matter how slight, an extra sense that rivals the senses of a particularly sharp fly.

The rough vibrations of footsteps can be heard going at a direction away from the pub. Meanwhile, whispers and heavy but careful footsteps can be heard from a rooftop…west of the pub's direction. Karna made a smirk as he turns off the effects of _Sylph Hearbeat_ on his body, and stealthily heads for the western window of the pub. He then peeks from one of its sides, and true to what he heard, there are two bandits on the rooftop just across the street from the window he's hiding in. Both of the bandits are carrying bolt action rifles, which would mean they can hit hard even from a distance. As for their accuracy, Karna doubts they can hit him even from their current mid-range distance, but the Fairy Tail Mage isn't exactly very willing to find out if that's the case. Cocking the hammers on his revolvers, Karna takes a quick peek to memorize the positions of the snipers, before withdrawing back and taking a deep breath…

In a split second, Karna goes to the middle of the window, and with the element of surprise and his own Deadeye precision, Karna shoots the rifles of the snipers, causing them to explode and knock the bandits out from the shock of the explosion and as well as their fall from the rooftops to the ground. Karna withdrew back to his hiding place behind the walls, looking at his revolvers with widened eyes.

" _Holy shit. These things are not revolvers. They're quite literally mini-canons! I never used a revolver with gunshots that loud or with shots with so much force that it kicks people off roofs like a kick of a horse. Indra almighty, Big Sis. You picked one hell of a gun for a birthday gift!_ " Karna sweat-dropped at weapons at his hands, before taking one last peek at the windows. Believing his gunshots to have attracted the remaining bandits, Karna prepared from a confrontation. But as he waited for a few more seconds, there was no enemy rushing towards his position. The Fairy Tail Mage looked out in caution, before softly leaping out the window. Where could the enemies be?

That question quickly gets answered when a girl's scream rang from somewhere in the desolate town. Following the source, Karna rushes towards the source. It lead him to a house with a collapsed roof, with the walls around it having chains, which seems to have been cut at the opened door. Hearing voices from inside, Karna stealthily goes inside, cocking the hammer of his revolvers all the while. Once inside, he finds the two bandits, now pointing their rifles at a young woman.

"Alright, missy, if ya wanna keep your dignity, tell us; Where in the bloody fuck is the entrance of the shrine?!"

"I…I don't know! There isn't any shrine in this town! I've lived here all my life, please believe me!" The girl pleads. She appears to be a slim, young-looking woman of average height with green eyes and prominent dark eyebrows. The ends of her silver hair are sausage curled, bundled into four thick strands in the back and two thick strands in the front. She dons a corset over a layered dress, as well as dark colored stockings. She has many dark green ribbons on herself, including two in her hair and one around the frilled neckline of her dress containing a stone in the middle. She also wears a gold headdress with a decorative rose design and a small jewel. Her green eyes are nearly tearing up, obviously stressed in the current situation.

"Not gonna talk, huh? Fine then, we'll pound it outta yer insides… _if you knew what I mean._ " One of the bandits declared, with a rather big smile on his face as he drops his rifle to the ground, before his hands slowly crept to the woman's face,then down to her shoulders, then swiftly descending on her hips…

"Eek!" The young woman yelped.

"Well, well, having a fun party without inviting people, lads? Mind if I join in on the good 'ol pounding, too?" Karna declared with a sly, causing the bandits to look back and grab their rifles, pointed at the Fairy Tail Mage. Meanwhile, the girl behind them had a look of horror, thinking that the leader of the bandits just arrived.

However, unlike the reply Karna expected, the bandit casually gave his reply, "Dude, don't sneak up on us like that. Wanna get shot or something?! But oh well, fine, ya can join in. Better let me do her first, though. Or you can just pay up the gang's entrance fee and do her first. Which is it gonna be?"

The Fairy Tail Mage felt like time stopped for him right there. He was expecting instant hostility, not surprise idiocy mixed with supernatural airheadedness…

In that moment, an idea popped in Karna's head.

"Well, I'll choose the latter. Here's my gold." Karna casually replies, tossing a bag of heavy gold to the bandit, who smiles with genuine happiness and gives Karna a thumbs up. The Fairy Tail Mage wasn't wrong in his guess, indeed. These bandits are quite the newbies on the job themselves, and are quite the epitome of idiots in action.

"Awright, you're in, greenhorn! We'll just turn around while ye plough her, so don't mind us. Just don't take too damn long." The bandit says with a friendly smile, before he and his comrade make good on their word and stood near the door, with their backs turned to the Fairy Tail Mage, and also dropping their guns to save some energy. Meanwhile, Karna makes a smirk with an eerie expression as he heads for the chained woman, who yelps aloud as the Fairy Tail Mage gives her an embrace, with his face near hers.

"No…please…don't do this, I beg of you…" The young woman begged, tears finally falling from her eyes. Karna, in response, brings his lips near her ears, the vibrations from his voice giving the woman's ears a surprising tickle that made her heart jump.

"I have a plan. I need you to play along, to sound and act like I'm actually doing something to you, and that you don't like it. Keep yelping, or moaning, or crying. Make it as…raunchy as possible. If we both want to escape this place alive, I'm going to need your cooperation. _Please, have a little faith and trust in me_. _Believe in me._ " Karna whispered, his hands gently reaching the back of the woman's head as he pulls her into an actual full embrace. It took a few seconds, but the woman digested Karna's words, and understood what he meant. The warmth of the Mage's body was enough of an…inspiration on what she needed to do.

"…I understand." The young woman's face started to glow red, but not out of fear nor despair, but out of the incoming embarrassment. But if she wants to escape, then…

She takes a deep breath, and begins her performance, "No…not there…please, be more gentle, it's my first time…! Ah, agh, aaahn~!"

As the young woman's steadily rhythmic, lewd moans echoed through the halls, distracting the now raunchy bandits and making them lose themselves in their own fantasies of what they are planning to do with the young woman later, with them starting to breath heavily out of frustration. That very sound is just the very cue the Fairy Tail Mage needed. Without hesitation, Karna starts chanting the spell he just needed. He lets go of the young woman, and turns his focus on the two criminals near the door.

"…Checkmate. I've won. _Ice Magia: Crystal Prison!_ "

A Blue Glyph appears beneath the bandits, which then shot out a pillar of blue light. As it subsided, it left the bandits encased in a literal square block of ice. Karna smirked as he whips his twin magnum revolvers and aims them at the frozen bandits.

"And now…off to the land of dreams and straight to prison, you filthy degenerates!" With that, Karna proceeds to cock the hammer and pull the trigger of his guns, blasting the bandits with the amazing force of the .500 caliber magnum rounds, sending them flying unconscious through the wall and then to the wall of the next building over.

"Phew. Thank Indra they're idiots. Now then…please, let me start with an apology for that little act." Karna says with an apologetic tone and a sheepish laugh as he shoots down the chains that held the girl's arms to the wall, severing the metallic restraints. The young woman fell down, causing Karna to catch her out of instinct. Seeing as she's too weak to stand, the Fairy Tail Mage sees to gentle have her sit with her back on the wall as she catches her breath. The Fairy Tail Mage makes a sigh as he takes a look at the holes on the wall the defeated bandits made. At least, all ended well for him today.

"Once again, I'm sorry about that little act. I hope I didn't scare you too much. Are you hurt heavily anywhere?" Karna asked. The white haired young woman shook her head in response.

"N-no, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, that's all, Mister…?" The young woman asked as she stood up, having recovered a bit.

"That's good to hear. Oh, and I'm Seifer. Seifer Moriarty. Freelance Mage on constant travel. What about you? What's your name, and what are you doing around in this desolate village?" Karna introduced himself using his cover name, as is usual when it comes to this situations. He swore to never use his true name and his trademark Fairy Tail long coat unless he's on official Fairy Tail Business, after all. The white-haired woman's eyes looked like they glittered for a moment as she mutters the name of the one who saved her…with a small tint of red on her face.

"Seifer, huh…"

Karna's eyebrow twitched. Did he hear something?

"You said something?" The Fairy Tail Mage asked in confirmation, to which the white haired young woman shook her head to.

"N-nothing. Oh, and my name is Touka. I'm the Village Alchemist and Water Mage. And before you ask…no, I never went to learn any offensive spells. I learned this for the sake of healing and helping, not combat." The girl named Touka explained, dusting off her dress. A Non-Combat Mage…That's quite unusual in a place like Uncharted Regions, Karna thought. Unless, of course, she's a local resident…wait, now that he thought about it, Touka did mention something about living in this village all her life.

"I see. Then, shall we head for the Mayor's Mansion, Miss Touka? Seeing as how these bandits are in town in the first place, I guess most of the villagers have evacuated for that area since from I heard, it's the only place with high, strong walls that's best against sieges, right?" Karna told the white haired girl. Now that he thought about it, he still needs to go outside and tie up the knocked out criminals. He should hurry before they wake up…

Touka looked at Karna, before looking down on the ground with a forlorn expression. After seconds of what seems to be having been in deep thought, Touka looks Karna in the eye, now willing to give her answer, with the girl's own eyes having steeled with resolve.

"I'm sorry, but I won't go there. But instead…There's something I would like to ask of you, Mister Seifer. Something that only you can help me with." Touka began her reply, with a hand on the center of her chest, gripping the ribbon that's attached there, "You see, this village had a procedure we follow in case there is an impending bandit attack: We would silently evacuate to the Mayor's mansion quietly in the middle of the night till the threat has passed, no matter how long it would take. The village is too poor to have anything of value left whether occupied or not, anyway. It's just that…after an alarm just this last week, when the villagers evacuated as silently as they can in the middle of the night, the bandits somehow knew the exact time and route everyone with take when heading for the Mayor's mansion, resulting in a messy run for safety as the village guards did their best to allow the non-combatant villagers to escape. If I were to guess, someone must have ratted us out to the bandits beforehand. Some were lucky and probably reached the Mayor's home, and some were not…me being one of them, having been stuck hiding here in the village for a week, and the others who were captured by bandits. I know not how many they were, but I…" Touka's hand on her ribbon tightened its clench, "I clearly remember bloodcurdling the screams. Of the men, of the women, and of the children…It was not something I ever wanted to hear. To think that someone can scream so much! I knew them all. I grew up with them! I…I…!" Touka began to shake, a few tears began to threaten to fall from her eyes. Every part of her body was trembling, obviously finding the memory very uncomfortable.

Karna quickly realized this, and decided that this was enough. The Fairy Tail Mage wasted no time gentle hugging the trembling woman, surprising her for a moment, at least before Karna himself spoke as he softly strokes the back of her head in an attempt to calm her down.

"There, there…it's alright. No need to say anything else. You've told me enough." Karna says as he kept on the hug and the stroking of Touka's hair, "I'll stay here with you, till you're feeling well, okay? Take your time. I won't go anywhere till then. I'll hear out your favor at that time, too."

Hearing those words shook Touka to the core. Even though she knows it's common sense to never reveal one's inner turmoil to others, Touka couldn't bear it anymore. She herself embraces back the Fairy Tail Mage, before proceeding to cry her stress out at Karna's chest.

What appears to be minutes passed by. As sunlight became faint from the outside, Touka's cries turned into sobs, and eventually those sobs faded into softened breathing. Karna's eyebrow twitched. He pulls away from the white haired girl, and finds out that she had indeed cried herself to sleep. Karna makes a relieved sigh. Having to hide from bandits alone for an entire week possibly without food or water can inflict this much stress to anyone. It seems that he's gonna have to ask the details about the bandits and their possible base for a later time. For now, he should let Touka rest and tie up the bandits outside. Knowing what he must do, Karna charges up his magic energy once more.

" _Projection Magia: Feather Paradise._ "

A white colored glyph opened from the ceiling, shooting forth a pillar of light onto the floor. Upon disappearing, it left a rather comfortable looking bed with pillows and blanket. Karna then princess carries Touka with his arms, placing her onto the bed and gently putting the blankets on her, covering her from the feet up till just below her neck area. With this, the first part of the job is done. Now…

"…Time for some good 'ol tie em up and arrest. And after that, hunt some deer nearby for venison, then it's time to cook dinner, and some rest. Man, all of this in one day…" Karna mutters to himself as he departs for the town, using magic to create an extremely long set of chains and as well as locks…

* * *

The sun has completely set. Only the red colored sky that is also about to be gone remains, as can be seen from the steam train's windows, the vast wilderness being a fading sight from inside. However, no matter the time or the weather, Cana Alberona isn't one to stop drinking. Unless she's broke, of course. But then again, free drinks existed too, she thought as she took another chug of the Magnolian whiskey that Erza Scarlet has bought for her. Meanwhile, the aforementioned red-headed mage is sighing in front of Cana, apparently having annoyance at the current situation, which is…

"Let me say this again; All I need you to do is just convince him to go home. There is nothing involving restraining him." Erza explained, wanting Cana's cooperation in this mission. The latter, however, gave the redhead an incredulous look as she takes another swig of her whiskey.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind helping. I don't know about Karna, though, You know how…ticklish he is when it comes to solving people's problems. Trust me; He won't leave that place till the main source of problems are solved. Remember the bandit infestations at that one uncharted desert region? Yeah…I'm sure that's also what he's planning to do here." Cana replied.

"Which is why I brought you with me. I need you to help me convince him. I know that he has a sense of justice, but he should learn that he must make a few restraints on how he acts on them. Should he do these things too much, he might attract the attention of the Magic Council!" Erza argued, using Makarov's words as a point.

"Oh come on. Karna has been doing this for 2 years straight. He isn't an idiot that does not cover his tracks. Why do you think he uses a fake identity, changes clothes and uses memory altering spells on the people he helps? Last I checked, those people from the desert regions can't remember the face nor voice of their hero who liberated them from the corrupted Sultan and his dynasty of Tyrants. I'm a hundred percent sure the same goes for the other people he helped, too. Hell, even the criminals he arrests can't remember his appearance nor spells." Cana retorted, her brother's own tales and confessions being her basis of arguments. From Cana's point of view though, it was idiotic. This sneaky way of handling things is most likely the reason why Karna's title, ' _Solomon, the King of Magic_ ' isn't nearly as much as spread out and well known amongst the common populace, unlike Erza or Gildarts. Even his own heroic deeds that has been done with his own actual name and identity as a Fairy Tail Mage is something he himself passes off as something that a fellow Fairy Tail Mage did rather than it being a deed of ' _Solomon_ '. The only achievements he couldn't deny were the ones he made on his solo missions, due to obvious reasons.

Cana internally sighed. If only her little brother wasn't so insistent about denying the credit for his achievements and keeping himself to the shadows…

"Despite that, I need him taken home, no matter what. It is the Guild Master's order, after all. Will you really help me or not?" Erza insisted on her earlier question. This time, Cana externally sighed.

"Using the Guild Master card now, huh? Classic Erza right there. And I told you, I'll help out. But don't go blaming me if Karna teleports you to a magic nullifying cage in the underground again~!" Cana laughed as she takes a swig of her whiskey, causing a now annoyed and embarrassed Erza to palm her face at the memory. That was not something she's forgotten till now. Damn that Karna and his constant scheming, the Queen of the Fairies internally complained.

* * *

 _On the top of a mountain, somewhere…_

A muscular, burly, olive skinned man with blue eyes is sharpening his knives in front of a fireplace, humming as he enjoys the sounds of both his own and the knife's shrieks. The warmth of the room and the smell of freshly cooked venison stew also helped the atmosphere. The man kept humming, enjoying the peaceful moment in bliss, relaxing as if it was-

"Boss, boss! Bad news!" A shout rang from the man's door, much to his great irritation. For such a peaceful moment disturbed, the man grunted as he stood, and replied to his lackey from beyond the door.

"What is it that it is so urgent, that you dare disturb my rest?"

Heavy breathing can be heard from the other side of the door, as the lackey was already stressed from running for miles upon miles, "Boss, it's a mage! A gun-slinging mage in a red coat just wiped out our ambush and robbing squad this afternoon, at the abandoned village! They didn't stand a chance at all! He chained them up and teleported them somewhere, too!" The lackey explained in panic.

However, instead of a frown or an expression of anger, the 'boss' simply smirked as he looked at his knife in excitement. He then laughed, as if he has just found a new sort of entertainment. He then turns his attention back at the door.

"Tell the men to prepare for tomorrow. For we shall ride to town!" The 'boss' declared, turning back to the fireplace with a smile on his face, "Don't forget your damn guns. We'll need them for this…negotiation!"

A yes was heard at the door. The 'boss' then resumes sharpening his knife, his heartbeat now pounding stronger with excitement.

"A spell caster, in my turf, eh? Finally, some good fucking challenge! This is truly the life! Ah, I can truly say that I do not regret retreating to this famine gripped wasteland known as the countryside regions! This is the best!" The man laughed in an insane manner, as if possessed of something inhuman from the depths of his core…


End file.
